We attended a very large car called Rockin’ Red Deer last summer that takes place every three years and has become famous enough to get the attention of My Classic Car and its famous host Dennis Gage.
Dennis filmed the Red Deer show for an upcoming installment of MCC and he was greeted like a rock star by the thousands of people who attended Rockin’ Red Deer.
The other big star at the event was a wild 1930 Woody that featured some of the most amazing custom woodwork we have ever seen on a car.
We have seen the car featured in a preview of the 2013 My Classic Car program schedule because this Woody wagon is an absolutely stunning masterpiece and Dennis was smart enough to include it in his preview.
The car is owned by Harold Kuipers and he is a fountain of information about how this hand-built Woody custom was crafted from a concept into a show-stealer by a master wood-worker who builds harps for a living. The woodwork alone required 1500 hours of work by the incredibly talented wood craftsman behind this project.
The Woody wagon even used wood that was personally harvested by the craftsman during the project. Harold described his project to his builder this way; “I want some kitchen cabinets but they have to be able to travel down the road at 60 mph.”
The custom ride concept was even extended into the driver’s compartment when Harold sat in a mockup of the front seat that sat on a mockup floor; so that the builder could custom design the driver position for Harold’s exact height and ride level.
The wood portion of the custom rod was a fundamental part of its overall look, but Harold was well aware that “woodworkers are not body guys”, so he contracted out the metal work to a body shop. The process to marry the woodwork with the metal work was planned very carefully and required that the project be taken apart many times during the build.
The car boasts the original 1930 Ford cowl with some 1931 Ford cosmetic touches thrown into the mix. The car is powered by a 350 Chevy crate engine and gets this Blue Oval wagon down the road very nicely for Harold.
Harold told us that he has an extensive car collection, but this Woody custom was his favorite and was worth every minute of the five years required to complete the project.
The crowds of onlookers around his car at the Rockin’ Red Deer car show suggested that the Woody was also a favorite of many other people when they spotted it at a show filled with amazing cars.
The Woody was very difficult to shoot because too many people were around the car, so we had to be patient and wait for a break in the crowd. It was well worth the wait to get good photographic evidence of one of the truly great custom cars we at MyStarCollectorCar have ever seen at any show.
This Ford Woody is indeed a four-wheeled rock star.
Jim Sutherland
